LUKoil hopes to salvage Qurna deal after Iraqi debt write-off

LUKoil hopes to regain the right to develop Iraq’s giant West Qurna-2 oil field following the Russian government’s cancellation of most of Iraq’s debt, the company said on Tuesday.

Moscow wrote off $12 billion, or 93%, of Iraq’s debt to Russia on Monday, a move widely rumored to be aimed at securing lucrative oil contracts. The deal on the debt cancellation was signed during a visit by Iraq’s Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari to Moscow. „The meeting of an Iraqi representative with the Russian government and the negotiations held between the parties give rise to optimism. We hope that the debt write-off will contribute to the promotion of our contract,” LUKoil spokesman Vladimir Semakov said.

Russia’s largest independent crude producer LUKoil operated the first phase of West Qurna and is looking to develop West Qurna-2 in southern Iraq. The deal for both phases was signed for 23 years in 1997 under Saddam Hussein but frozen in 2002. During his meeting with the Russian government in Moscow, Zebari said a bilateral commission will be established to look into contracts suspended since the fall of Hussein’s regime, which he said would demonstrate that his country is not trying to avoid issues „originating from former obligations. The commission will also consider contracts with LUKoil and other Russian companies,” he said. (rian.ru)

Related articles

Hungarian shipping company Mahart Zrt. will soon call a public procurement tender for the construction of a HUF 2.2 billion liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal at the Port of Csepel on the Danube in the south of Budapest, business daily Világgazdaság reported on Monday.

In a surprise move, the National Bank of Romania has rejected a request for approval by the Romanian unit of Hungaryʼs OTP Bank to acquire 99.28% of Banca Românească from the National Bank of Greece, the lender said in a disclosure posted on the website of the Budapest Stock Exchange (BÉT) early on Monday.

Revenues of the local unit of German automobile manufacturer Audi edged up 1% to EUR 7.136 billion in 2017. Capital expenditures were up 45% at EUR 442 million last year, while the local unitʼs headcount climbed 5.8% to 12,307.

The National Bank of Hungary (MNB) allocated HUF 50 billion of its monetary policy interest rate swaps (MIRS) designed to flatten the yield curve at a tender on Wednesday, state news wire MTI reported.

The Monetary Council of the National Bank of Hungary (MNB) said it would continue to use its extended set of monetary policy instruments, without making any mention of future "fine-tuning," in the minutes from its policy meeting on February 27.

Manuscripts by the 19th century Hungarian composer Ferenc (Franz) Liszt, long thought lost, have been returned to the Liszt Memorial Museum and Research Center after being discovered in a private collection. The music is closely related to Hungary and the Revolution of 1848.

Erbslöh Hungária, a unit of German automotive group WKW, will spend HUF 14 billion to build a 1,500 square-meter production hall and install new surface treatment technology, increasing capacity, in Győr (121 km northwest of Budapest).

Hungaryʼs Government Debt Management Agency (ÁKK) on Wednesday said it has issued a three-year JPY 30 billion samurai bond. The bond carries a 0.37% coupon but has a yield under 0.6% after conversion into euros, the ÁKK said.

The Government Debt Management Agency (ÁKK) sold a combined HUF 76 billion of bonds at auction on Wednesday, raising its original offer by HUF 16 bln on strong demand from primary dealers, state news wire MTI reported.